sac·ri·fice /ˈsækrəˌfaɪs, ||fəs ||ˌfaɪz/
 犧牲,供俸,祭品(vt.)犧牲,祭祀,賤賣(vi.)獻祭


 Sac·ri·fice n.
 1. The offering of anything to God, or to a god; consecratory rite.
 Great pomp, and sacrifice, and praises loud,
 To Dagon.   --Milton.
 2. Anything consecrated and offered to God, or to a divinity; an immolated victim, or an offering of any kind, laid upon an altar, or otherwise presented in the way of religious thanksgiving, atonement, or conciliation.
 Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood
 Of human sacrifice.   --Milton.
 My life, if thou preserv'st my life,
 Thy sacrifice shall be.   --Addison.
 3. Destruction or surrender of anything for the sake of something else; devotion of some desirable object in behalf of a higher object, or to a claim deemed more pressing; hence, also, the thing so devoted or given up; as, the sacrifice of interest to pleasure, or of pleasure to interest.
 4. A sale at a price less than the cost or the actual value. [Tradesmen's Cant]
 Burnt sacrifice. See Burnt offering, under Burnt.
 Sacrifice hit Baseball, in batting, a hit of such a kind that the batter loses his chance of tallying, but enables one or more who are on bases to get home or gain a base.


 Sac·ri·fice v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sacrificed p. pr. & vb. n. Sacrificing ]
 1. To make an offering of; to consecrate or present to a divinity by way of expiation or propitiation, or as a token acknowledgment or thanksgiving; to immolate on the altar of God, in order to atone for sin, to procure favor, or to express thankfulness; as, to sacrifice an ox or a sheep.
    Oft sacrificing bullock, lamb, or kid.   --Milton.
 2. Hence, to destroy, surrender, or suffer to be lost, for the sake of obtaining something; to give up in favor of a higher or more imperative object or duty; to devote, with loss or suffering.
 Condemned to sacrifice his childish years
 To babbling ignorance, and to empty fears.   --Prior.
    The Baronet had sacrificed a large sum . . . for the sake of . . . making this boy his heir.   --G. Eliot.
 3. To destroy; to kill.
 4. To sell at a price less than the cost or the actual value. [Tradesmen's Cant]


 Sac·ri·fice, v. i. To make offerings to God, or to a deity, of things consumed on the altar; to offer sacrifice.
 O teacher, some great mischief hath befallen
 To that meek man, who well had sacrificed.   --Milton.

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 sacrifice
      n 1: the act of losing or surrendering something as a penalty for
           a mistake or fault or failure to perform etc. [syn: forfeit,
            forfeiture]
      2: personnel that are sacrificed (e.g., surrendered or lost in
         order to gain an objective)
      3: a loss entailed by giving up or selling something at less
         than its value; "he had to sell his car at a considerable
         sacrifice"
      4: the act of killing (an animal or person) in order to
         propitiate a deity [syn: ritual killing]
      5: (sacrifice) an out that advances the base runners
      v 1: endure the loss of; "He gave his life for his children"; "I
           gave two sons to the war" [syn: give]
      2: kill or destroy; "The animals were sacrificed after the
         experiment"; "The general had to sacrifice several
         soldiers to save the regiment"
      3: sell at a loss
      4: make a sacrifice of; in religious rituals


 Sacrifice
    The offering up of sacrifices is to be regarded as a divine
    institution. It did not originate with man. God himself
    appointed it as the mode in which acceptable worship was to be
    offered to him by guilty man. The language and the idea of
    sacrifice pervade the whole Bible.

      Sacrifices were offered in the ante-diluvian age. The Lord
    clothed Adam and Eve with the skins of animals, which in all
    probability had been offered in sacrifice (Gen. 3:21). Abel
    offered a sacrifice "of the firstlings of his flock" (4:4; Heb.
    11:4). A distinction also was made between clean and unclean
    animals, which there is every reason to believe had reference to
    the offering up of sacrifices (Gen. 7:2, 8), because animals
    were not given to man as food till after the Flood.

      The same practice is continued down through the patriarchal
    age (Gen. 8:20; 12:7; 13:4, 18; 15:9-11; 22:1-18, etc.). In the
    Mosaic period of Old Testament history definite laws were
    prescribed by God regarding the different kinds of sacrifices
    that were to be offered and the manner in which the offering was
    to be made. The offering of stated sacrifices became indeed a
    prominent and distinctive feature of the whole period (Ex.
    12:3-27; Lev. 23:5-8; Num. 9:2-14). (See ALTAR.)

      We learn from the Epistle to the Hebrews that sacrifices had
    in themselves no value or efficacy. They were only the "shadow
    of good things to come," and pointed the worshippers forward to
    the coming of the great High Priest, who, in the fullness of the
    time, "was offered once for all to bear the sin of many."
    Sacrifices belonged to a temporary economy, to a system of types
    and emblems which served their purposes and have now passed
    away. The "one sacrifice for sins" hath "perfected for ever them
    that are sanctified."

      Sacrifices were of two kinds: 1. Unbloody, such as (1)
    first-fruits and tithes; (2) meat and drink-offerings; and (3)
    incense. 2. Bloody, such as (1) burnt-offerings; (2)
    peace-offerings; and (3) sin and trespass offerings. (See OFFERINGS.)